News & Events

Lamar Advertising Company Named 2012 OBIE Award Winner Library OOH Campaign Earns Top Out of Home Advertising Award

Baton Rouge, LA – May 3, 2012 – The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) last night presented Baton Rouge-based Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) with a Gold OBIE Award for its Milwaukee Public Library billboard campaign. Winners were honored at the 70th annual OBIE Awards, held on the closing night of the 2012 TAB/OAAA Out of Home Media Conference & Marketing Expo in Miami Beach, FL. The OBIE Awards recognize outstanding out of home advertising campaigns.

The Milwaukee Public Library billboards incorporated the look of popular social websites Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to remind Wisconsinites about the resources offered at their local library. Ads encouraged citizens to “putyourfaceinabook” and try millions of characters, rather than only 140. Lamar Advertising Company also donated space on digital billboards nationwide to run a public service campaign for 2012 National Library Week, using the designs originally developed for the Milwaukee Public Library.

Dave Olson, Lamar Advertising Company and campaign creative director, said, “After this campaign had been running in Milwaukee for a week or two, it went viral. These ads have given the Milwaukee Public Library international attention, and more importantly, interest in library services has been generated among people in the Milwaukee area.”

(Images shown: OBIE Award Winning Creative designed by Dave Olson from Lamar Advertising Company for Milwaukee Public Library Out of Home Advertising Campaign)

Stephen Freitas, OAAA chief marketing officer, commented, “These billboards encompass all that effective and creative outdoor ad campaigns should. They were innovative, eye-catching, and got people from around the world talking.”

The complete list of OBIE winners and Finalists can be found at www.obieawards.org. For additional information, hi-res images or general media inquiries please contact:

About Lamar Advertising Company
Lamar Advertising Company is the nation’s leading outdoor advertising firm. Lamar offers solutions for clients in the form of bulletins, posters, digital billboards, buses, benches, transit shelters and highway logo signs. Founded in 1902, Baton Rouge-based Lamar has a broad corporate reach with over 200 locations across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico specializing in outdoor and transit advertising. In addition, Lamar has 22 locations devoted to the highway logo sign business. This network provides clients with local market insight, as well as the services provided by a firm on a national scale.

Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR), a leading owner and operator of outdoor advertising and logo sign displays, announces the Company’s operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.